Sudan army denies Darfur attack
2007-10-10 18:41
Khartoum - Sudan's army has denied attacking the only Darfur rebel faction to sign a peace deal with Khartoum, saying tribal clashes were to blame for fighting which killed 45 people in Muhajiriya town.
The Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) led by Minni Arcua Minnawi
was the only one of three negotiating rebel factions to sign the May 2006 deal and become part of government. Muhajiriya in South Darfur is the largest town under their control.
Minnawi's faction said Monday's attack, which they said
killed 45 people and destroyed half the town, was a "stab in the back of the peace deal".
Rebels said militias mobilised by the government, known as
Janjaweed, along with a small number of army soldiers were still burning villages around Muhajiriya on Wednesday.
On September 29 growing tension erupted into a assault on the AU base near Haskanita, killing 10 soldiers and destroying the camp in the worst attack on the force since it deployed in 2004.
The AU withdrew, asking the army to secure the formerly
rebel-controlled area to help search for almost 60 missing
soldiers, all but one of whom were found.
Haskanita town was burnt to the ground and all the civilians
fled, with rebels reporting 105 civilians killed.
In a sign of more possible violence ahead, rights group
Amnesty International confirmed rebel reports of government
troops massing in towns in North Darfur. Most areas north of the main towns are controlled by the rebels.
"It looks as though the Sudan Armed Forces want to attack
this area before peace talks scheduled to take place in Libya
before the end of the month," said Tawanda Hondora, deputy
director of Amnesty International's Africa Programme.
Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur, SLA founder, said he wanted a
strong UN force on the ground before the talks, aimed at
bringing those who rejected the 2006 deal on board to negotiate
a proper ceasefire.
The UN-AU force is due to take over from the struggling
and overstretched AU. Agwai says his force is outgunned and
outnumbered in Darfur, with fewer than 6 000 soldiers there.